Science 23 May 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5879, p. 985
DOI: 10.1126/science.1159999

James Tiedje¹ and Timothy Donohue²

The current surge in food and fuel prices has sounded an alarm showing why providing a sustainable global energy supply and minimizing climate change are arguably two of the greatest challenges facing 21st-century society. With adequate research and proper implementation, the diverse and often unseen inhabitants of the microbial world–bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and archaea–can help address these challenges.

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